The sky bred layers of steel ships.
An ocean of darkness stretched into the horizon.
An armada from the enemy while a legion from the empire.
The collapse of the barrier marked the true beginning of the war.
No more schemes.
No more holding back.
This—
was the moment both empires finally revealed their fangs.
The shattered remains of the golden dome rained across the capital like dying stars. Fragments of ancient light dissolved before reaching the streets below, turning into drifting particles that painted the battlefield in fading gold.
The temporary shield was blinking.
It would not last.
But it would hold on under the Archduke's command.
Then came the silence.
A dreadful silence.
Before—
BOOM!
The sky ruptured.
Thousands of imperial soldiers looked upward as space above the capital distorted violently. Clouds spiraled outward as a colossal magical circle emerged from the fractured sky.
Aileen's true army of mages had arrived.
